5 Malaysian Muslim Children have died – due to the Rejection of a Rumored Pig DNA Vaccine

Parents are defying an immunisation drive on the grounds the medicines may contain pig DNA (non-halal).

More children are falling victim to contagious diseases in Muslim-majority Malaysia, worrying health authorities as parents reject immunisation programmes for fear the vaccines used infringe strict religious rules.

The deaths of 5 children in June from diphtheria, a disease that can be prevented by vaccines, provoked an outcry among doctors and spurred calls for an edict by religious authorities to compel Muslim families to immunise children.

“Our concern is, if it’s left uncontrolled, in the long-term we might see a significant effect on the nation as a whole,” said Health Minister S Subramaniam.

Although Muslim religious authorities have waived the stringent halal requirement if suitable vaccines are not available, concerns have redoubled recently that some may contain substances such as pig DNA, forbidden by Islam.

Paediatrician Musa Mohamad Nordin said there was a lot of misinformation in Malaysia’s Muslim community, mostly ethnic Malays who form 61% of a population of about 30 million that includes substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

“I’m upset, and also saddened, that some religious teachers are spreading rumours that vaccines contain a composition that is not permissible by Islamic jurisprudence,” added Musa, a member of Malaysia’s Federation of Islamic Medical Associations.

Only a few families have rejected vaccinations, but the number has more than doubled in the past three years to reach 1,541 in 2015, Subramaniam said, which is reflected in a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases, from diphtheria to measles.

As with anti-vaccination movements elsewhere, many Malaysians who refuse vaccinations worry about potential side effects or efficacy, Subramaniam said. It is not clear what provoked the suspicions over pig DNA.

But three-quarters of the parents who rejected immunisation last year in the northern state of Kedah, which has the highest rates of vaccine refusal in Malaysia, cited doubts over their halal status, a survey showed.

Malaysia’s highest Islamic body, the National Fatwa Council, has ruled vaccination permissible under Islamic law, even allowing vaccines with non-halal components, in the absence of halal alternatives.

The council has not yet decided on an edict of mandatory vaccinations for Muslims, Federal Territory Mufti Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said.

“On the whole, we find that vaccines have been very beneficial to society,” Zulkifli added.

Last Sunday, parents at a vaccination forum on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the capital, recounted the side effects their children suffered.

Parents should have the right to refuse vaccination, said alternative medicine practitioner Arif Faizal, 36. “There is no law compelling mandatory vaccines, and even on the global level, very few countries support such a move,” he said.

Others felt vaccinations were essential, however. “As Muslim parents, we have a responsibility to protect our children,” said Wan Normaniza Wan Hasan, a teacher and mother of six.

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Robert’s View

In 2014 there was the unfounded pig DNA Cadbury chocolateextreme over-reaction nation-wide – only to find out it’s actually false. Now it’s the unfounded pig DNA vaccine rumor. But this time, 5 Muslim children have died in June from diphtheria alone.

Your chances of dying or suffering from halal obsession is much greater than just having common sense.

The public need to learn some common sense. Vaccines and medicine are not meat or food. This HALAL Extremist Intolerance and Over-Reaction has gone overboard.

… soon it’ll be halal jokes, halal blood, halal water, halal IT mall, halal banknotes, halal hotels, halal library, halal medicine… halal taxis (don’t laugh, I was once rudely refused by a “halal taxi” driver who was suspicious that the lunch box I was carrying was not halal, even though I offered to show him that it was Mamak food – like does it really matter).

Now we see a surge of business people profiting and preying on gullible people by offering halal products and services – when really the focus should be on providing professional add-value products, branding, sound management, operations and finance, with good customer service. Most analysts were not surprised by the death of Rayani Air, Malaysia’s first halal airline, less than 4 months after launching operations.

There is no reason to have pig DNA in vaccine, just like there is no reason to have pig DNA in bottled water. The health and religious authorities are trying to educate the public especially the rural areas in Kedah about modern medicine and health, before more people get sick or die because of ignorance, paranoia, and rumors spreaded by some irresponsible extremist religious teachers.